GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: How a whole-of-government approach to climate change can improve Canada’s climate performance

This report details the institutional frameworks used by the United States, United Kingdom, British Columbia, France, Germany, Australia, Denmark, and Singapore to implement a whole-of-government approach to climate change. It catalogs specific committees, task forces, and legislative mechanisms designed to integrate climate priorities across different government departments and agencies.

• The United States utilizes a National Climate Task Force established to "enable a whole-of-government approach to combatting the climate crisis," which includes all 13 department Secretaries and various presidential assistants. This is supported by the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, which coordinates the implementation of the President's climate agenda.
• The United Kingdom employs a multi-layered structure including the Climate Action Implementation Committee, which can make "collective binding decisions" regarding COP26 and net zero, and the Climate Change Act 2008, which mandates a net zero target and five-year carbon budgets.
• In Germany, the 2019 Climate Law assigns sector-specific targets to each department; if these are missed, departments must propose an "emergency program to address the gap," which requires approval from the whole cabinet.
• Denmark's 2020 Climate Law requires all new legislation to be considered with climate change in mind, a process overseen by the Standing Committee for the Green Transformation, which includes all ministries.
• Singapore uses a National Climate Change Secretariat to support the Prime Minister and Cabinet in strengthening "strategic alignment across Government," alongside an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change to ensure the nation is prepared for climate impacts.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (n.d.). GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: How a whole-of-government approach to climate change can improve Canada’s climate performance. https://climatechoices.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Whole-of-Government-report-2021-tables.pdf

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: How a whole-of-government approach to climate change can improve Canada’s climate performance. n.d. https://climatechoices.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Whole-of-Government-report-2021-tables.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: How a whole-of-government approach to climate change can improve Canada’s climate performance |url=https://climatechoices.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Whole-of-Government-report-2021-tables.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitutendgreater, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: How a whole-of-government approach to climate change can improve Canada’s climate performance}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, url = {https://climatechoices.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Whole-of-Government-report-2021-tables.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }